Greg with Omaha Magazine called my Service Center on Thursday with some “good news” as he described it.

To vote in the best of Omaha participants were asked to create an account on the best of Omaha website, confirm their email address, vote in multiple categories, and then submit their ballot. All in all it is a pretty involved process.

Then Greg told me that Schrock won by such a wide margin of votes, we could have won just about any category in the entire competition!

While we certainly have no designs on Best of Omaha for florists or care dealerships, it is an amazing feeling to know so many of our customers and listeners took the time to vote for Schrock in the Best of Omaha Competition.

While it is always nice to win awards (it sure beats losing!) awards are always a reflection of your past performance. Schrock Innovations is a customer service-focused company with the goal of making our customers’ technology do what they need it to do when they need it done. Our mission will not change in 2013.

On Monday morning the world is going to end for computer users. The Internet will finally buckle under the strain of all of those videos, searches, and knowledge of questionable value. It is the Internet’s doomsday.

Now that we have all of the drama out of the way, the storied DNS changer virus is going to be the biggest non-story of the year. If you are not familiar with the DNS changer virus, here’s a brief re-cap to get you up to speed on the story you will hear WAYYY to much about tomorrow:

What is the DNS Changer Virus:

A few guys in Estonia were sitting around one day trying to figure out a way to make money on the Internet (or in this case off of the Internet). They came up with the bright idea of creating a virus that would redirect people’s web browsers to their pages instead of taking the users to the pages they intended to visit.

Imagine a scenario where you attempt to go to your bank’s website. If I am running the DNS changer virus, I can see that you are attempting to go to your bank’s website and I can instead silently redirect you to another website that looks JUST LIKE your bank’s website. Once you enter your username and password I store them on my computer to exploit later and then pass you on to your bank’s real website.

You might assume you entered a password wrong, type it in again, and get access this time. No big deal to the end user – until my Estonian friends start scamming a reported $14 Million from victims world-wide!

The FBI busted up the ring in 2006, but all of those infected computers were still out there. When the ring was busted and they turned their computers off, tons of computers around the world could not access the Internet.

To help the victims infected with the virus, the FBI brought the DNS changer servers back online – only without the nasty stuff) so people’s computers would function on the Internet again. The FBI is taking that server offline after providing infected computers with Internet access for 6 YEARS. The server goes offline on Monday.

How Many People Are Still Infected?

It was estimated that in may about 355,000 computers world-wide were infected with DNS changer 6 years later. About 77,000 of those computers are in the US (come on people! 6 years with no anti-virus software?!?!)

This virus also infected a number of wireless routers in 2006, using the router to redirect traffic while your computer might scan completely clean with anti-virus software.

How Can I Tell if I am Infected?

Simple! Just visit the website set up to help people get their systems cleaned up. If you get a green background you are good to go. A red background means your computer or your wireless router are infected and you probably can’t get on the Internet anymore.

The damage from the virus will be contained to the 77,000 computers and/or networks that are infected. The infection is no longer spreading.

With that said, the real damage is going to come from the volume of phone calls we get at Schrock Innovations. If anyone has Internet trouble tomorrow they are going to think they are infected. Sounds like a great time for Time Warner or Cox to do some scheduled maintenance and freak everyone out 😉

This morning Schrock Innovations was recognized by the US Small Business Administration as the #1 business in Congressional District 2 (Omaha, NE).

Each year the SBA presents awards to small businesses in each congressional district. Schrock Innovations was compared against other businesses based on sales and employment growth as well as involvement in the local community.

We discussed the award last Monday on the Omaha Morning Blend:

I want to thank all of my staff and employees who made this award possible, as well as the customers across Nebraska and Iowa who trust Schrock Innovations for their computer and technology needs.

Have you received a text message telling you that you are the lucky winner of a Best Buy, Wal-mart, or Starbucks gift card? If so, you are not alone!

One of the newest types of identity theft scam lures unsuspecting victims by sending mass text messages to randomly generated phone numbers. The batches SMS messages usually send sequentially, which means many people within the same community receive the messages at about the same time.

The messages state that you have entered one of the surveys that is commonly located on the bottom of a store receipt. Their hope is that you did complete one of these surveys and you might believe that you actually won.

When the victim clicks the link in the text message they are taken to a website that asks for the person’s email address and ZIP code. If that information is completed, the next screen congratulates the victim and states that only a little more information is needed to claim the gift card.

The website asks for personal information including name, date of birth, address, and phone number. That is actually all of the information that is needed to steal your identity.

WOWT Channel Six news stopped by our Omaha Service Center to ask some questions about the scam. Here’s the video of their news report:

If you received one of these text messages Best Buy posted suggested information on their website about how to handle it.

If you have already responded to one of these text messages and completed all of the information then you could have a problem on your hands. It might be a good idea to file a police report (create a paper trail marking the beginning of the event) and to also request that your bank place a fraud alert on your credit reports to prevent accounts from being opened in your name.

This year’s annual recycling event at Schrock Innovations was a huge success. Last year we collected about 1.5 tractor trailers full of computer-related E-Waste and our goal this year was to top those numbers.

We offered three collections points this year – one in Papillion, one in Omaha, and one in Lincoln. Between all three collection points we were able to recycle almost 2 full tractor trailers of E-Waste!

Please excuse our mess in the service centers while we process, sort and source the E-waste to proper recyclers!

Schrock Innovations believes that companies should be good stewards of the products they produce.

That is why Schrock offers to recycle computers, cell phones, and accessories at no cost. Normally monitor disposal is $15 per unit.

April 28th and 29th Schrock is taking technology recycling to a whole new level with a 2-day recycling event that will allow you to safely dispose of your old computers, phones, accessories, and cords all for FREE!

During this event, each customer is allowed to recycle one monitor for FREE. Each additional monitor is $15 to recycle.

However, during this special event for every monitor you pay to recycle we will give you a $15 Schrock Innovations gift card. At the end of the day, its as close to ABSOLUTELY FREE as you will get!

Because of logistics, we must limit each customer to 10 monitors in total. If you have more than 10 to recycle please contact us to make special arrangements.

What About My Data? Is it Safe to Recycle?

Schrock Innovations takes your personal privacy seriously.

Each and every device that has data storage of any kind (hard drive, flash memory, cell phone, etc.) will be professionally wiped by our staff BEFORE it is sent anywhere to be recycled.

A recent UK study found that 54% of all phones that were disposed of contained personal information like social network passwords, bank accounts, or phone logs.

Of the phones that contained personal data, over 80% of the people who disposed of the devices *thought* they had completely wiped them before disposing of them.

Nothing is EVER deleted from a computer, laptop, tablet, or cell phone until it is professionally deleted.

You can rest assured that the data on your recycled devices never leaves our Service Centers.

Why Should I Recycle my Old Electronics?

It is estimated that on average each household in the US has 3 old and outdated computers in storage. Schrock Innovations recently attended a committee meeting of the Nebraska Legislature where our State Senators expressed concern that electronic devices in our landfills were becoming a health hazard to all of us.

When you throw your old electronics in the garbage they don’t just go away. Harmful chemicals like lead, cadmium, and mercury are vented when these devices are crushed or placed in the landfill. These chemicals stay in the soil for decades and can pose serious human health risks including cancer.

Most people don’t recycle electronics because you have to pay companies to take your equipment. That is why Schrock Innovations is holding this event. It is free on May 21 and 22, so PLEASE make a plan in your household to set aside the old cell phones and computer gear you honestly will never use again and dispose of it safely.

Can I Bring Non-Computer or Phone Stuff to Recycle?

This event is limited to computer equipment and cell phones only. We are working with specific partners to make this event possible.

We can not accept old TVs, cable converters, VCR’s and other related items.

Special Circumstances and Advance Notice

If you are bringing in a large quantity of equipment (more than 15 total pieces) PLEASE call us and let us know you are coming. We have to make room to store the recycled equipment for up to 48 hours before it is transported (so we can pull all data storage devices).

Call Lincoln at 402-423-9595, call Omaha at 402-934-9423, or call Papillion at 402-884-0880 24 hours before you arrive with your equipment.

For one week only (through April 9) Schrock’s most popular service, our Preventative Maintenance Checkup will be on special for nearly 60% off the normal price.

Schrock’s Maintenance Checkup is the best value in town when it comes to tuning up a slowing computer – especially when it is on sale for only $34.99!

Take a look at one of Thor’s appearances on the Morning Blend show from earlier this year where he shows you exactly why you need Preventative Maintenance on your computer every six months:

For that $35 price, Schrock will spend up to 8 hours working on your computer. During the Maintenance Checkup we will:

Blow dust and debris out of your computer’s fans and power supply

Scan your hard drive for signs of future failure

Test your system memory

Test your computer’s power supply

Test your CD/DVD drive

Examine your motherboard for signs of future failure

Install any recommended Windows Updates

Install updates for common software like Flash or Reader

Scan for malware and virus infections

Update your installed anti-virus software

Repair registry errors and corruptions

Clean your computer’s exterior

Compare Schrock’s Maintenance Checkup on special to competing services that cost as much as $120!

We only have Maintenance Checkup Specials twice each year, so if you miss this opportunity your computer could suffer for months with slow speed, damaging dust, or failing components for months before you have another chance at a deal like this.

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